Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate rainforest
Range: Western North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

An evergreen shrub of Pacific Northwest forests with thick, leathery, glossy leaves and pink-white urn-shaped flowers. Its dark purple berries were a staple food for Indigenous peoples of the coast, often dried into cakes for winter storage.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Gaultheria
Species: Gaultheria shallon